


Ineffable

by planet_plant



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Animal Death, Charles is a Sweetheart, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Short & Sweet, have some fluff during these trying times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23434807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planet_plant/pseuds/planet_plant
Summary: The amount of love Charles has for her is hard to put into words but he manages to find plenty of other ways to express it.
Relationships: Charles Smith (Red Dead Redemption)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Ineffable

**Author's Note:**

> i.... am back, yet again. hope y'all are staying safe !! i love you and i hope you enjoy reading !!

It's a few hours past noon when Charles and Arthur ride back into Clemens Point after being gone for nearly two days. They hitch their horses and drop off what they'd hunted with Pearson and the two part ways after sharing a few words. 

Charles' gaze spans the entire camp before he finally finds who he's looking for.

Evangeline is sitting with Mary-Beth and Abigail, talking to both women while simultaneously watching Jack run around with Cain. A bright smile appears on her face as the little boy approaches her full of giggles and he says something that makes her laugh before he takes off again, the hyper dog at his heels with a stick hanging out of his mouth.

Her shoulder-length hair is tied back, though a few stubborn curls are out to frame her face. As Charles grows closer, he can see the stitches that were once sewed into her forehead are gone, leaving a fresh pink scar behind. The bruising on her cheek and jaw are nearly faded to a light brown hue. Mary-Beth greets him as he approaches the women and Evangeline turns her head at the sound of his name, her lips stretching into another smile.

"You busy?" He asks her with his own much softer smile. 

A brief look of confusion flashes over her features and she slowly shakes her head. Charles simply holds out his hand for her to take and she does so without question, allowing him to pull her to her feet. He bids the other women goodbye before he begins leading Evangeline back towards the horses. Taima nickers softly as the two approach and Evangeline takes a moment to rub the mares velvety nose and mutter a few words to her that Charles can't quite make out.

Charles climbs into the saddle first and holds his hand out to help Evangeline up. Once the woman is settled behind him, he steers his mare onto the trail leading out of camp and out onto the dusty, red road, moving in the opposite direction of Rhodes. They pass a few other travelers on their journey, passing them with a nod or a short greeting of their own if the people bothered to say anything to the two of them.

The comfortable silence lasts for nearly ten minutes before Evangeline curiosity finally gets the best of her. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

The woman falls silent at his reply and Charles can just tell she's disappointed by his answer. She's not one for surprises, and he knows that, so why won't he just tell her?

They ride at a leisurely pace until Charles steers Taima onto a small trail that leads to the grounds of a stable. The stable is located almost exactly in between Emerald Ranch and Rhodes and a rancher greets them from where he sits on his porch.

Evangeline's hands tighten around the sides of Charles' shirt, pulling the fabric taut against his abdomen. "Charles..."

The man doesn't say anything as he hitches Taima to a nearby post and dismounts. Then, like the gentleman he is, he reaches up to help Evangeline down. Her fingers wrap around his wrists, her eyes slightly wider than usual and a unreadable emotion in her eyes. "... What are we doing here?"

Charles doesn't answer her, he'd rather her see it for herself.

His silence isn't met with any more words, only the feeling of her hands tightening around his, and he steps into the barn. The stable boy greets them, telling Charles that it was nice to see him again. Charles simply smiles and nods to young man before continuing towards the back of the barn.

Standing towards the back of the stall is a gorgeous black Arabian. His head raises at the sound of their footsteps and he nickers softly, moving towards the door of the stall. Charles brings a hand up to rub the horse's nose and he says, "I know you've been pretty upset since Ladybird..."

Ladybird was a beautiful Few Spots Appaloosa and was Evangeline's very first horse. She'd gotten Ladybird a year or two before joining up with the gang and the two of them were thick as thieves. She had bought the mare from a ranch hand who had no business in selling her but he was desperate, as her owner wasn't the nicest man. Evangeline claims she didn't even hesitate, giving the nervous boy the fifty dollars and taking the horse far away from that awful man. It had taken a while but the two had formed a strong bond and that bond could be seen nearly everyday. Ladybird was a stubborn horse, and could be aggressive at times (Micah and Bill knew that personally) but she was a good horse, a great one, who could be sweet to those she trusted, and her life came to an end in just a matter of a few short seconds. 

While the camp was still in set up in Horseshoe, Evangeline had wanted to get away for while, to get away from the busyness of camp. They'd made it up to the Cumberland Forest and had gotten ambushed by O'Driscoll's. Apparently it had happened so fast, Evangeline hadn't even registered it until after the fight was over. When she didn't come back to camp in the time she said she would, Charles set out to look for her and found her sitting on the side of the road next to Ladybird's body.

The only comfort Evangeline had was that Ladybird hadn't suffered. The first bullet hit her head. She didn't even make a sound.

Evangeline hadn't left camp since they'd arrived that night, taking the time to heal both physically and mentally.

"Charles, you didn't-"

"I did. What are you gonna name him?"

Evangeline stares at Charles with wide, glassy eyes before she looks at the horse, who looks back at her with his large, dark eyes. She raises her hand rub down the white stripe in his forehead, all the way down to his soft nose and sniffles lightly. "Can we take him out?"

A small feeling of relief washes over Charles. Although he knew another horse would help her grieve and heal, he also wasn't completely sure she was ready for a new one. He couldn't even imagine losing Taima, let alone getting another horse to replace her.

Charles leans down to press a soft kiss to Evangeline's cheek before calling the stable boy to get her new horse tacked up.

* * *

Arthur had found the Arabian at the stables in Saint Denis.

His original plan was to buy the horse for himself but he didn't have enough cash on him, so he left, thinking the animal would be snatched up quick by some other lucky feller. But a few days ago, before he and Charles went out on their hunting trip, he brought up the horse to his friend after Charles had brought up the idea of possibly getting Evangeline a new horse. They knew the chances of the horse still being there were low but they took that chance and went into the city to see if he was still there. As soon as they'd seen that the stallion _was_ still there, in the same old stall as he was before, they both put their money together to buy him. They then made the decision to move the horse to the other stable since Evangeline wasn't too fond of cities.

When Charles had told Evangeline that, the poor girl nearly burst into tears again.

She comes up with a name rather quickly; Milo. The name suites the stallion's calm demeanor but the name was strong as well. It was perfect for him.

Before they went back to camp, Charles suggests taking a short break in a small clearing a short distance from camp. The sun in the middle stages of setting, casting a calming orange glow over the state of Lemoyne. As soon as they are both dismounted, Evangeline is wrapping her arms around Charles' middle and pressing her face into his chest.

"Thank you," She whispers. "I love him. And you. I love you."

Charles wraps his own arms around Evangeline's small frame and kisses her forehead tenderly. "I love you, too," He murmurs into her hair. His hands move to rest on her hips and he pulls back just a enough to press another kiss to her lips.

When they arrive back at camp nearly an hour later, dinner has already been served and the camp is bustling with all sorts of noise. Javier is lazily playing some kind of tune on his guitar, Bill, Lenny, Karen and Tilly are playing a card game, and Swanson is wandering around camp with a bottle of whiskey and mumbling the words to a song. Cain rushes up to greet Charles and Evangeline, though he's gone within seconds, probably to go beg for scraps from Pearson.

The first thing Evangeline does after she ensures Milo gets along well enough with the other horses is hunt down one Arthur Morgan. She finds him standing near the main campfire with a bowl of stew and as soon as he sees her coming towards him with her arms open and a happy smile, he simply holds his arm out and tucks her into his side, returning her tight hug as best as he could.

"That man loves you an awful lot, you know that?" Arthur asks her with a small chuckle and Evangeline looks to where Charles stands talking with Hosea near the stew pot, her own smile appearing on her face, "Yeah, I know."

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading !! don't forget to comment


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